Calista Elders Council

A major breakthrough in asserting pride in Yup'ik cultural history was the establishment of the Calista Elders Council (CEC) by Calista (the profit corporation for the Yukon-Kuskokwim delta) in 1991 and the placement of heritage preservation efforts in local hands.

Mark John became executive director in 1997 and under his leadership, guided by a nine-member board of elders, CEC developed a program to address the rapid loss of traditional knowledge. Since 2000, these documentation efforts, supported by grants from the National Science Foundation as well as other federal and state organizations, have resulted in fourteen major publications, a museum exhibition, three websites, a school curriculum, and many papers and public presentations. As important, CEC has developed a collaborative approach allowing non-Native researchers and Yup'ik community members to work together as they learn and share knowledge in new ways.

In 2014, the original CEC merged with the Calista Heritage Foundation (established by Calista in 1980 to fund scholarships for Calista shareholders and shareholder descendants), and the combined organizations became Calista Education and Culture (the new CEC). Today, Calista Education and Culture is the major research organization for southwest Alaska and continues to be active in recording and sharing Yup'ik traditional knowledge.

CEC Cultural Documentation Team
 

MARK JOHNwas the original Director of the Calista Elders Council. He is now the Cultural Director for Calista Education and Culture. He is originally from Toksook Bay, the son of Paul and Martina John, and has proved himself a galvanizing force in the revival of the CEC. He is well known and respected throughout the region as a commercial fisherman, active subsistence hunter, and fluent speaker of the Yup'ik language. Receiving his BSW and MSW from the University of Alaska, he is also a gifted leader and administrator, and has worked slowly and carefully to begin to realize CEC's potential.

Mark John has the respect of the CEC Elder Committee, and he in turn respects their role as the tradition bearers whose knowledge and vision it is his job to help communicate.

Education

Valedictorian, St. Mary's High School, St. Mary's, AK, 1974
BA in Social Work, University of Alaska Fairbanks, 1993
MA in Social Work, University of Alaska Anchorage, 1997

ALICE ALUSKAK REARDEN from Napakiak, Alaska graduated with a BA in history from the University of Alaska Fairbanks in 2000. Since then, Alice has worked in collaboration with Ann Fienup-Riordan, Marie Meade, and the Calista Education and Culture, where she has served as primary translator and oral historian for more than twenty years. She is a fluent Yup'ik speaker committed to working with regional tradition bearers to gather, translate, and share their knowledge.

Her first bilingual book relating to family values was Yupiit Qanruyutait/Yup'ik Words of Wisdom. In 2008 she received both the Museums Alaska Award for Excellence and the Bridge Builders Community Service Award in recognition of her outstanding and important work.

Education

Mt. Edgecumbe High School, 1996
BA in History, University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2000
2018 MA Secondary Education, University of Alaska Southeast, Juneau, AK

ANN FIENUP-RIORDAN is a cultural anthropologist who has lived and worked in Alaska since 1973. Her books include The Nelson Island Eskimo (1983), Eskimo Essays (1990), Boundaries and Passages (1994), The Living Tradition of Yup'ik Masks (1996), and Wise Words of the Yup'ik People: We Talk to You because We Love You (2005). In 2000, she received the Alaska Federation of Natives President's Award for her work with Alaska Natives, and in 2001 the Governor's Award for Distinguished Humanist Educator.

Between 1994 and 1996 she worked with the Anchorage Museum and the Coastal Yukon Mayors Association curating the Yup'ik mask exhibit Agayuliyararput/Our Way of Making Prayer. From 1997 through 1999 she worked with Yup'ik elders exploring museum collections in an NSF-sponsored project entitled Elders in Museums: Fieldwork Turned on Its Head. At present she works with the Calista Education and Culture helping to document Yup'ik traditional knowledge.

Education

BA Religious Studies, University of Michigan, 1971
MA Cultural Anthropology, University of Michigan, 1973
PhD Cultural Anthropology, University of Chicago, 1980

Contact Us

For more information

Mark John, CEC Executive Director at mjohn@calistacorp.com
Alice Rearden, CEC Oral Historian alicerearden@hotmail.com
Ann Fienup-Riordan, CEC Anthropologist at riordan@alaska.net

Mailing address

Calista Education and Culture
5015 Business Park Blvd, Suite 3000
Anchorage, AK. 99503